First time door adjustment

[Sparkrite]

Hi guys, even after reading past threads I am still unsure of how things are meant to work. The gods must be looking over me because I have easily loosened both nuts around the lower door hinge pin within the door. But the hinge pin rotates in the main shell but not the door, is this correct. I have original standard never touched hinges on a tcs and for now I just wish to make adjustments to tge door fit rather than take the hinges out.

[Grumblebuns]

the steel hinge pin is one solid piece. How are you rotating the pin? I've attached a couple of pictures of a stock pin and locknut setup on an S2 door,

[Sparkrite]

When I open and close the door the hinge pin rotates in the main bodyshell, but remains stationary with the door.

[Sparkrite]

If the hinge pin is meant to rotate within the door bushes, then what stops it rotating in the main body.

[Grumblebuns]

It's been a while since I last did a door adjustment but there are abrasive sheets between the washers at the bottom pin that keep the pin locked in the door, I believe. Can you remove the top lock nuts?

[jbcollier]

In theory, the door pin is a snug fit in the body bobbins and a slightly loose fit in the adjustable bushes.  A split pin keeps the pin from falling out if wear gets excessive.  What happens over time is that water makes it's way in and the bushes seize to the pin.  That's when the pin starts turning in the door bobbins.  In really advanced cases, cars left outside for a long time for example, the pin also seizes to the bobbin which rips the bobbin out of the body when the door is forced open.  Body bobbins can be drilled oversize and sleeves fitted to bring them back to size.  The other parts are available new.  An SS pins helps somewhat but the system is not an ideal design.

Lotus Supplies (Banks) has brass assemblies with adjustable tapered pins which not only simplify adjustment, they also make the door easily removable while retaining its adjustments.  The only down side is that you have to occasionally tighten them up as the brass tapered pin and body bobbin settle in.

Relevant section in the manual:

http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2work/b/index.htm#17

[MRN I J]

When I open and close the door the hinge pin rotates in the main bodyshell, but remains stationary with the door.

the hinge pin is bolted up solidly in the door then it rotates in the body bobbins, to adjust slacken the nuts off, make the adjustment & tighten the nuts up, easier said than done, lots of patience needed !- its a Lotus

[EuropaTC]

If the hinge pin is meant to rotate within the door bushes, then what stops it rotating in the main body.

As the others have said, a pin rotating in the body is bad news and will lead to problems unless tackled.  The body bobbin is (I think) aluminium and will wear badly against rusty steel. Once it goes out of shape it's very difficult to align the door - you can do it but it will rock/pivot in the worn holes. It's not the endo of the world because you can drill & fit sleeves, but it's probably better to catch the problem before you need that solution.

So you need to stop the pin rotating.  I did a mod years ago after the joyous experience of replacing seized hinge pins and surprisingly it worked.  Post here

http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=1130.msg9553#msg9553

Brian

[BDA]

I would be interested in a comparison between adjusting the stock hinge setup and the Banks/Lotus Supplies brass setup. I've only had the Banks kit. One door is really good, the other one is almost not terrible but it does close and lock. I have spent hours trying to align that door to get it that bad. Obviously I was just lucky on the good door.

Then when Certified Lotus was building his car, IIRC, he used rd's stainless steel stock type kit and got beautiful door alignment with seemingly a minimum of swearing.

I don't mean that as a dig at the Banks kit because I think it's really cleaver. After all, Certified could have had a small person inside the car to help align the door (I don't know anybody that small!). It did get me wondering if the stock setup might be easier to adjust than I imagined. I have no trouble believing that I would be equally inept at either design.

So if you have experience with both systems, maybe you could offer some comparisons of your experience with each system.

Also, when I got my Banks kit, the pin did not fit in the body bobbins! I called Richard and he apologized and said that he made them a little bigger because most body bobbins were worn more than mine!

[gideon]

I don't experience adjusting either type, but that doesn't stop me having an opinion .  I favour the long hinge pin over Banks system because a single hinge pin means the upper and lower bushes will always be perfectly in line.  With two hinge pins you have the potential for slight misalignment between the two pins, which would be bad. 

[jbcollier]

Not really as the Banks’ system has a virtual pin between the two contact points.  As the contact points are the same for both systems, the Banks’ virtual pin is in exactly the same position as the stock system

[Sparkrite]

I appreciate the replies, but from how I see it "MRN I J" is incorrect in his version. Following the manual,  If once the door is aligned, the pin is greased and re inserted and the locknuts added and tightened. Then the bushes are locked only to the door but the pin can rotate in both the door and the body bobbins,so I cant see how the design prevents the pin rotating in the bobbins.
My top bush rotates around the pin but the lower bush is temporarily siezed to the pin.  I am confident that I can free this with just penetrating fluid.

[Sherman Kaplan]

I'm sorry if I'm being a little dense today    But I just want to make sure I understand. When I read the responses it seemed that they said different things.

Is the pin stationery in the door (tightened solid by the adjusting nuts) and then the door with the solid pin rotates in the body bobbins?   This is what I think MRN I J says, but Brian (Europa TC) says a pin rotating in the body is bad.

thanks,
Sherman
73 TCS

[Pfreen]

The pin rotates in the door, and the pin is tight in the two body bobbins.

[Sherman Kaplan]

So the pin is stationery (held by the two body bobbins) and the door moves on the pin?   

Thanks,

Sherman